Editing Marku Ionuț (section)

== Internal power struggle ==
On 18 January 2024, Marku left Bucharest for [[Tanoa]] after telling Andrei and the senior Bucharest Butchers members that he intended to negotiate a limited smuggling agreement. His actual plan was to expand the organization's Tanoan smuggling routes while secretly negotiating a merger with the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen. Marku arrived in [[Georgetown]] on 20 January and began meeting Tanoan officials.

During the visit, he discovered that [[Codruț Tudor]] was living peacefully in the city after disappearing from the Bucharest Butchers years earlier. On the night of 21 January, Marku followed Tudor as he walked home from a restaurant, approached him from behind and strangled him. He killed Tudor out of resentment over his departure and because Marku wanted to control the Bucharest Butchers' relationship with Tanoa for himself.

Marku returned to Bucharest on 24 January and described the visit only as a smuggling negotiation, concealing the merger talks and Tudor's killing from Andrei.

On 17 February, Marku travelled with [[Jibbut Snagov]] to a [[Porno Bucharest]] property in northern [[Romania]], where members of the department had confined a 17-year-old girl for Marku to sexually exploit. The girl's mother, [[Yelena Zaretskaya]], arrived carrying a [[Mosin–Nagant]] rifle and shot Marku in the leg before escaping with her daughter. Snagov encountered them as they were leaving and deliberately allowed them to pass.

Marku later suspected that Snagov had allowed the escape but did not confront him directly. On 12 March, Marku told [[Richard Rambam]] that Snagov had become a liability and argued that he should be killed. Rambam refused because he still needed Snagov's chemical expertise and security knowledge. Snagov was subsequently excluded from senior meetings, although he was not told that Marku had requested his death.<ref name="jibbut-later"/>

In March 2024, [[Petru Ionuț]] returned to Romania and rejected Marku's demand that he surrender control of the Bucharest Butchers' operations in [[Los Angeles]]. Marku wanted Petru's properties and revenue to finance his takeover.<ref name="butchers-downfall"/> On 18 June, he sent [[Valeriu Petrescu]] to Petru's casino complex with orders to kill Petru and abduct [[Silvia Wilson]]. Petru killed Valeriu during the failed attack.<ref name="petru-final"/>

Marku later revealed the merger proposal to Andrei, who treated it as a challenge to his authority. The two men argued repeatedly about the future of the organization. Andrei stated that he would never disestablish the Bucharest Butchers or merge them into another group.

On 12 July 2024, Marku presented the proposal again with the support of [[Florin Ionuț]] and [[Stefan Shrankenhaus]], but Andrei refused.<ref name="dirlewanger-retirement"/> Dirlewanger also confronted Marku during the meeting, called him "a disappointment to everyone" and struck him with his cane. Marku lacked enough support to retaliate against Dirlewanger or Andrei.

Marku then used the growing hostility between [[Iakob Ionuț]] and his brother Petru to arrange Petru's death. He promised Iakob greater authority and direct access to the California revenue if Petru was removed.<ref name="iakob-alignment"/> On 21 August 2024, Iakob entered Petru's closed casino in Hollywood and killed him after an exchange of gunfire and a physical struggle. At 11:37 p.m., Iakob telephoned Marku and confirmed that Petru was dead.<ref name="iakob-killing"/>

On 28 August, Marku went to the Bucharest residence of [[Emil Mătăsăreanu]] and placed cyanide in his drink while he was not looking. Marku remained in the house until Mătăsăreanu died, removing another older figure with a claim over the California structure.<ref name="emil-death"/>

[[File:Last picture of Marku Ionut.png|thumb|Last known photograph of Marku|338x338px]]

Marku's merger plan lost its external support when the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen collapsed on 30 November 2024.<ref name="tanoa-history"/> The loss of Tanoan protection weakened his faction, while the California network began breaking apart after Petru's death.